News
An oil depot supplying a key air base in the town of Engels, located in Russia’s Saratov Region, caught fire after a Ukrainian drone attack early on Jan. 8. Firefighters have so far been unable to contain the blaze, which has been burning for more than 14 hours.
Roman Busargin, the governor of the Saratov Region, reported that two firefighters died while battling the flames:
“Due to the increased scale of the fire at the industrial facility that was attacked by UAVs, a state of emergency will be declared in Engels. Unfortunately, during the firefighting efforts, two firefighters from the Emergency Ministry lost their lives. One specialist has also been hospitalized. The Minister of Health has been instructed to ensure that medical assistance is provided under close supervision.
Throughout the day, specialists from [Russia’s consumer protection agency] Rospotrebnadzor have been conducting air quality tests in the area of the fire in Engels. No exceedance of pollutant levels has been detected.”
Busargin earlier reported that drone debris had struck an unspecified “industrial facility” around 05:30 a.m. local time. Russia's Ministry of Defense claimed that 11 Ukrainian attack drones were downed over the Saratov Region, while 21 others were brought down in other parts of the country.
In a comment to RBC-Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) confirmed that they carried out a strike against the “Kombinat Kristall” oil storage facility in Engels. Numerous explosions were reported in the target area, resulting in a large-scale fire that was documented and shared on social media.
The AFU’s General Staff noted that the oil depot supplied fuel to the Engels-2 military air base.
The Engels-2 air base, located over 700 kilometers from the nearest Ukrainian-controlled border, houses the 121st Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment, which operates Tu-160 bombers, and the 184th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment with Tu-95 MS planes.
These aircraft are used by Russia to carry out large-scale strikes on Ukraine, often causing severe damage to infrastructure and civilian casualties. Ukrainian forces have previously targeted the air base with drone strikes.